Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
In early March, the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District agreed to a contract with Northwest Central Dispatch System (NWCDS).
The agreement, in part, means firefighters with Barrington Countryside will be able to communicate more effectively with other departments that are a part of NWCDS, which serves nearly 500,000 people spanning more than 170 square miles.
Police and fire departments in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Inverness, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, and Schaumburg are all with NWCDS.
Barrington Countryside FPD Deputy Chief Don Wenschhof said the fire protection district agreed to a per-call fee in the new contract with Northwest Central Dispatch System, making it difficult to compare costs under the district’s former agreement with Round Lake Beach-based CenCom.
The per-call fee amounts to $58.53, while no entry fee was charged under the agreement with Northwest Central Dispatch System.
The cost to work with NWCDS may ultimately be more for the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District but firefighters thought the services offered were worth the expense, he said.
From 2014 to 2016, Barrington Countryside averaged about 1,857 emergency calls a year to CenCom, according to CenCom.
